Commentaries for Matthew Chapter 13

PARABLES OF THE SECRET KINGDOM

Matthew's central discourse section (13:1-52) contains seven or eight parables depicting the present character of the kingdom until the end; his final discourse section contains a roughly equal number of end-time kingdom parables (24:32-25:46)...View the entire commentary

Setting

In view of the heavy crowds, Jesus entered into a boat and pushed out slightly from the shore, a technique that had enabled him to speak to large crowds at other times (Lk 5:3)...View the entire commentary

The Enemy's Weeds

The Hidden Kingdom of the Present

Jesus insists that the glorious anticipated kingdom of God is also present in a hidden way in his ministry and that of his followers...View the entire commentary

The Coming Separation

Jesus explains that God tolerates the wicked in the present for the sake of his elect, but will publicly distinguish between the two in the day when the secrets of the kingdom are revealed...View the entire commentary

Those Who Know the Kingdom's Value

The Kingdom Costs True Disciples Everything

True, the kingdom is available to us only by grace through faith; but genuine faith means genuinely embracing and yielding to God's reign, not simply acknowledging it and then passing it by as if it did not exist...View the entire commentary

Revealing the Kingdom's Treasures

THE REJECTED PROPHET

The theme of this section is not hard to discern: even more than in previous sections, it alternates between opposition and miracles, thus showing the spiritual blindness of those who oppose Jesus...View the entire commentary

The Threatened Prophet

Like Moses, Elijah and Jeremiah, Jesus was rejected among his own people (13:53-58); the prophet John's execution thus prefigures his own (14:1-12)...View the entire commentary

A Prophet Visits Home

Himself greater than a prophet (5:12; 11:11-14), Jesus would face rejection greater than the prophets had (23:29-36)...View the entire commentary